"You look like a fish."
The prince rose from the small bed, looking out of his cell with a bland expression. Sigyn didn't buy it, though; after centuries spent with this one man, a blank face couldn't hide what was going on inside. There was more than a little anger dancing in his eyes, but despair, hope, and even a bit of love joined it. "I have been languishing in here for weeks without you so much as stopping by, and the first thing you say to me is that I look like a fish?"
"Glass box, aquarium, it makes sense from the outside. And you'll never guess where I have been all this time, dear husband." By the Norns, she missed him. Though her voice was nonchalant and her words almost flippant, her eyes couldn't stop roving that gorgeous body of his, her ears still drinking in the sound of his rich voice- and she knew it was the same for him. If that thin plane of magic had not been there to separate them, they would be in each other's arms already.
"Negotiating the terms of my release?"
"If only. Not a day after the minimal mourning period ended, my father insisted that I return home to Vanaheim, where he promptly began negotiating the terms of my remarriage."
"Remarriage?" The look on his face was quite enjoyable, almost teasing a smile out of her lips. He was at once shocked, indignant, and, adorably, worried. "You called me husband; you did not…did you?"
"Your faith in me is astounding," she drawled, the smile coming out. "Of course not. Remember our vows? Bound together always, even as we walk through the realm of the dead; you just made it there before me. At least, I thought you did."
"You really thought that I was gone?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as his dark brows drew closer together.
Sigyn swallowed. "Everyone did." Those were difficult memories to think about. She wouldn't go as far as to say that she was lost without him, but they had been partners. Losing him was like losing an arm; she could still go on, but everything was harder. "We all mourned, Loki. All of us." She let the unspoken implications dangle there, that perhaps his adopted family cared more for him than he believed.
Once more he tried to mask the emotions that flitted across his face, and once more he failed. "But I was alive," he said slowly, the weight of each word hitting the floor like a brick. "And you did not come for me."
"I did not know," she murmured, biting her lip. "No one thought to tell me until I returned to Asgard and heard you were alive, but imprisoned for the rest of your life for crimes of treason, murder, attempted genocide…Loki, why?"
Raising his chin in the air, he clasped his hands behind his back and turned away from her. "You know why." His words were as cold and unfeeling as the cell that surrounded him, but something…something told her that they were not true.
"No, I do not," she sighed, ghosting her fingers down the smooth surface between them. "You need to tell me. And you need to stop trying to hide; you forget that I know you better than anyone."
"I will not tell you this."
"I am your wife," she retorted, though pain lingered in her voice. "You must tell me this."
"I cannot!" His face was filled with desperation as he spun around, his voice raw. "I cannot," he repeated, more softly. "I cannot put you in this danger, my love."
"When you told me you were a Jotun, I listened and loved you still. And you forget, love, that I am more than capable of protecting myself. With the two of us together, what danger could hope to overcome our might?"
"I cannot take that risk," Loki said firmly. "What he did to me…I would sooner see you loathe me for an eternity than to have even a fraction of that happen to you."
A spark lit in her eyes. "So someone made you do it." The thought of her love being tortured was chilling, but at the same time, it meant that he wasn't entirely to blame for what happened on Midgard. She'd wanted to get his side of the story before passing judgment, but maybe this meant that she didn't have to pass judgment at all. "Give me a name. I will find him and bring him to justice so you can leave here a free man."
"I told you no."
"And I told you that I would help you!" A ringing noise echoed around them as her fist met the magic field serving as a wall. She glared at him, the full weight of her fury in her gaze. He'd seen her angry before, but this rage was different. This rage would not be stopped until it got exactly what it wanted. "They do not call me the goddess of fidelity without reason, you beautiful fool; give me a name."
Loki maintained his steadfast exterior, though hints of admiration and adoration seeped through; he did always love it when she took control. "I cannot let you do this on your own."
He was weakening. Good. No matter how strong his resolve, she could nearly always sway him. "I will not be on my own; I swear it by Yggdrasil herself. Now tell me: who made you do this."
He exhaled, closing the emerald eyes she loved so much. "Sigyn, my love…if you find him, if he finds you, he will rip you apart body and mind to punish me."
"Name. Now."
"Thanos."
Her eyes widened and she felt her mouth fall open. "The Mad Titan? I heard that he was obsessed with Hel, though, why would he…you are her father."
"He worships the part of her that is Death. His only wish is to kill and destroy because he thinks that will please her. He thought putting me on a throne would please her as well, and if he had the Tesseract, he could destroy everything for her." Every word was thick with disgust. "I told you, love, you cannot stop him."
It pained her to admit it, but from logic's perspective he was right. Tales of the Mad Titan, the Eternal who murdered throughout the Nine Realms, blew up his own planet, and was infatuated with the Queen of Niflheim herself, had often reached her ears- and if she was smart, she would listen to those who said to stay out of his way. She was a smart woman, yes, but she was also in love. Love beat logic no matter what the cost. "Perhaps I cannot stop him on my own, but with help…Loki, I will not let you rot in here for misinterpreted crimes." She bit her lip to stop the smile that threatened to spill over as her eyes flickered down to her belly. "Besides, I will not let our son grow up without his father."
"Our son?" The look of wonder on his face made her heart swell. "We have a son?"
"Well, perhaps a daughter, but it feels like a son." The energy within her womb was wild and unformed, but it felt distinctly masculine; a mother could always tell. She sighed as she looked at him, longing to hold his slender body in her arms and press her lips against his. They were breaths away from one another, but they might as well have been on opposite realms.
"My love, that is the most wondrous news I have heard since entering this foul place." But then his face darkened. "No. Sigyn, you cannot go after Thanos now; you, and our child, could get hurt."
"You can be concerned, Loki, but you need not be," she said gently. "There is no creature so dangerous as a mother; Thanos will not stand a chance."
"Lady Sigyn?"
She turned as she heard a guard approach. "Yes?"
"The Royal Family formally requests your attendance at a banquet in honor of your return to Asgard."
The Lady Sigyn formally requests that you all wander into a herd of bilgesnipes in honor of you treatment of my husband. "I would be happy to accept," Sigyn smiled. Happy was a stretch; this was sure to be an entirely awkward situation. Despite her sour thought, she didn't necessarily loathe Loki's family- she actually admired Frigga and was friends with Thor. But she didn't want to be paraded around while her husband sat in prison and she had the power to free him, nor did she want to field the inevitable questions about Loki, her opinions on what he'd done, and, of course, if she planned on annulling their marriage. Aesir were just as bad as Vanir when it came to shoving their children on eligible royals. "And when will this banquet take place?"
"In three hours."
Shit. She'd hoped to talk more with Loki, but with time constraints like that, it wasn't an option. "I am afraid I must leave, my love," she sighed. "You know how hard it is to get my hair into those ringlets your people love so much."
"Your hair is far more beautiful the way it is now," he said, reaching out with his hand as if to touch her thick, deep red waves. "The court will never know what they are missing out on with all of their traditions."
"And you know how I hate those traditions, love, but for now I do not want to risk their anger. Not until I have justice. Then, well, then we shall see." Once she was sure of Loki's safety she would be far less afraid to flout the customs that dictated her royal appearance.
"Take care, darling, alright? Promise me you will not let some dashing young lord sweep you off your feet," he pled.
"I do not know if I can," she laughed, her smile flashing bright in the dark hall. "I am just so easily charmed. But you can come to the wedding; will that do?"
"I suppose," he sighed heavily, looking distraught. "Fare thee well, fair Princess Sigyn."
"And you as well, noble Prince Loki." She kissed her fingers and placed them on the wall, her lipstain leaving behind a red impression. "Love you now."
"Love you tomorrow."
"Love you forever," they said, their voices in unison.
"I will be back," Sigyn whispered, her smile small as she blinked back tears. She hated to turn, walk away, and simply leave her husband alone in a prison cell, but it had to be done, no matter much her heart protested. Just one night of socializing, then she could start her search for Thanos.